Max’s breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the infinite expanse of the Nexus. He stood on a shimmering platform that seemed to pulse with energy, a mix of vibrant colors—blue, green, gold—that bled into each other, constantly shifting like an aurora. Threads of light snaked through the air, forming a vast network that stretched into infinity. But something was wrong.

The Nexus was fractured. Some of the threads flickered erratically, others hung limp and disconnected. Pulsing cracks of shadowy voids spread like veins through the glowing fabric of the space, and the hum of energy, once smooth and steady, was fragmented, dissonant.

Jake stumbled beside Max, his face pale. “Max… What is this place?” His voice wavered, as if he were afraid that speaking too loudly would somehow break the fragile reality around them.

“The Nexus,” Max replied quietly. “This is the center of everything—the connection between all worlds, all dimensions.”

Jake looked around, his eyes wide as he took in the swirling, incomprehensible beauty of the space. “And… we’re just standing in it? Like it’s no big deal?”

Max didn’t answer immediately. His focus was drawn to the cracks, to the way the once-pristine threads of energy seemed to unravel before his eyes. The Nexus was sick, and its illness was spreading. He could feel it, deep in his bones—a sense of wrongness that made his skin crawl.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” Max said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s breaking apart. The Tether is failing.”

Jake frowned. “You keep saying that. What does it mean? What happens if this Tether thing fails?”

Max turned to him, his expression grim. “If the Tether collapses, the barriers between dimensions will fall apart. Things from other worlds will bleed into ours—and not just things like the Weeping Angel or the shadows. Entire realities could collide. It would be chaos.”

Jake’s eyes widened, and he took an involuntary step back. “Chaos. Great. So, how do we fix it?”

Max hesitated. That was the question he didn’t have an answer to. He had been drawn to the Nexus, pulled into this impossible space, but he didn’t understand it. He didn’t know how to control it, let alone how to heal it.

Before he could respond, a deep, resonant thrum echoed through the Nexus, like the tolling of an enormous bell. The sound vibrated through Max’s chest, shaking the platform beneath his feet. Jake grabbed his arm for balance, his eyes wide with panic.

“What was that?” Jake demanded.

Max turned slowly, his stomach twisting with dread. In the distance, beyond the shimmering threads of light and the swirling colors, a dark mass loomed—a shadowy void that seemed to absorb all light around it. It pulsed rhythmically, like a heartbeat, and as Max watched, he saw tendrils of darkness reaching out, wrapping around the fragile threads of the Nexus and tearing them apart.

“That’s the source,” Max said, his voice hollow. “That’s what’s breaking the Tether.”

Jake squinted at the massive shadow, his face pale. “What even is that? A monster? A black hole?”

“I don’t know,” Max admitted. “But whatever it is, it’s feeding on the Nexus. It’s consuming the connections between worlds.”

Jake shook his head, his hands clenched into fists. “Okay, so what’s the plan? Do we… I don’t know, fight it? Run? What?”

Max stared at the dark mass, his mind racing. He didn’t have a plan—how could he? He was just a kid. But the Nexus had brought him here for a reason. Somehow, he was connected to this, to the unraveling. And if he didn’t do something, no one else would.

“We can’t run,” Max said finally. “If that thing keeps feeding, it’s going to destroy everything. We have to stop it.”

Jake’s jaw dropped. “Stop it? Max, look at it! That thing is huge! And it’s made of, like, pure evil or something! What are we supposed to do—punch it?”

Max ignored him. His eyes were drawn to the glowing threads of the Nexus, to the way they pulsed with energy. The threads were the connections between worlds, the lifeblood of the Tether. If he could find a way to use them, maybe—just maybe—he could repair the damage.

“Stay here,” Max said, taking a step toward the edge of the platform.

Jake grabbed his arm. “Stay here? Are you out of your mind? You can’t just walk up to that thing!”

“I’m not walking up to it,” Max said, shaking off Jake’s grip. “I’m going to the threads. They’re the key to everything. If I can tap into their energy, I might be able to stop it.”

Jake hesitated, then let go, his face a mix of fear and frustration. “Fine. But if you get yourself killed, I’m not explaining this to your mom.”

Max managed a faint smile, but his focus was already on the glowing threads. He stepped to the edge of the platform and reached out, his fingers brushing against the nearest thread.

The moment he made contact, a surge of energy rushed through him, almost knocking him off his feet. His vision blurred, and for a split second, he saw flashes of other worlds—an endless desert under two suns, a city floating in the clouds, a forest filled with glowing, bioluminescent trees.

He pulled back, gasping for breath. The thread pulsed under his hand, its energy humming with life.

“You okay?” Jake called, his voice tinged with panic.

Max nodded, though he felt anything but okay. The energy of the Nexus was overwhelming, but it was also alive—alive and desperately trying to hold itself together.

Max took a deep breath and reached out again, this time with both hands. The energy surged through him once more, but he held on, focusing on the threads, on their rhythm, their pulse. He could feel the fractures in the Tether now, like cracks in a dam.

And he could feel the shadow pulling at them, tearing them apart.

“Come on,” Max muttered, his voice strained. “Come on, hold together…”

The threads responded to his touch, their energy flowing into him. Max closed his eyes, focusing all his will on the fractures, willing them to mend, to heal.

But the shadow wasn’t going to let him succeed.

The deep, resonant thrum echoed again, louder this time, and Max felt a wave of darkness crash over him. The shadow’s tendrils lashed out, striking the threads and sending shockwaves through the Nexus.

Max staggered, the force of the attack nearly knocking him over. He gritted his teeth, refusing to let go of the threads. “Not… giving up,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

The shadow pulsed again, and Max felt its presence pressing down on him, suffocating and overwhelming. It wasn’t just a void—it was alive, a malevolent force that wanted to consume everything.

And it was coming for him.

“Max!” Jake shouted, his voice filled with terror. “It’s moving!”

Max opened his eyes and saw the shadow surging toward them, its tendrils writhing like snakes. His heart raced, but he didn’t let go of the threads. If he let go now, it was over.

“Jake!” Max shouted. “Find something—anything—to hold it off!”

“Hold it off? With what?” Jake yelled back.

“Just do something!”

Jake scrambled, looking around frantically. Meanwhile, Max focused all his energy on the threads, on the Tether. He could feel the cracks beginning to mend, the energy flowing stronger, brighter.

But the shadow was closing in, and time was running out.

Max gritted his teeth, his determination burning brighter than ever. He wasn’t going to let the shadow win.

Not here. Not now.