Chapter 31: Undefeatable

The air around them hummed with a low, vibrating pulse, the sound of the Anachronism swirling with increasing intensity. The team had made their way deep into the heart of the disturbance, their trust now stronger than ever before, each of them pushing through their doubts, their pain, and their past failures. The final battle wasn’t just against the Anachronism—it was against everything that had tried to tear them apart.

“Everyone ready?” Alec asked, his voice steady despite the chaos swirling around them. He turned to face his team, all of them standing in a loose formation, preparing for the final phase of their mission.

Snow nodded. “Let’s do this.” Her eyes were focused, calculating every move, every potential outcome.

Lina gave a brief nod, her expression determined. She hadn’t led them this far to stop now.

Ulbert cracked his knuckles, his posture tense but resolute. “I’m not going to let this thing rewrite us.”

The others gave their silent affirmations, each ready to face the swirling chaos before them. The Anachronism itself had taken form, a twisting vortex of distorted time, everything around it flickering like an old film reel skipping frames. The very fabric of reality was breaking down at the core, threatening to tear apart everything they had worked for.

Ken’s voice cut through their preparations over the comms. “I’ve located the anomaly’s origin point. It’s tied to the explosion that messed with the timeline. You need to push it back to where it belongs. Time is already fighting against you.”

Alec clenched his jaw, his heart pounding. They had one chance—one shot to fix this, to stop the Anachronism from destroying everything. They couldn’t let their mistakes define them any longer.

“We’re using the boomer V2,” Alec said, his eyes locked on the massive, swirling distortion ahead. The boomerV2—a device that had been built by the team specifically to handle the most volatile of time disruptions—was their final tool. A risky one, but it was their best chance.

The boomer V2 was capable of sending the anomaly back to its original timeline, but the team needed to activate it in perfect synchronization. Any mistake, any lapse in focus, would be disastrous. 

Ulbert was the first to step forward, activating the device’s controls. “We need to generate a time pulse at the core of the Anachronism’s structure,” he explained quickly, his fingers flying across the device’s interface. “It has to be precise.”

“Then let’s do it,” Lina said, her voice sharp as she held the team’s formation.

Snow and Ruson adjusted the settings on their devices, their focus absolute. They had trained for this moment, prepared for it. The boomer wasn’t just a tool; it was their last line of defense, a weapon against the very thing they had been trying to stop.

Alec’s heart raced. The air around them crackled, the energy from the Anachronism pulling at them, distorting reality further with every passing second. They had to do this—there was no other option.

“On my count,” Alec said, his voice low but resolute. “We send it back. Three… two… one… now!”

The team’s hands flew to the boomer’s activation panel as the pulse began to form, an echo of the Anachronism’s chaotic energy surging around them. For a moment, nothing happened. The world seemed to hold its breath.

Then, with a thunderous crack, the pulse shot forward, a wave of energy tearing through the distorted air. The Anachronism’s chaotic form shuddered, the distortion faltering as the pulse connected with its core.

Time seemed to bend and warp around them as the Anachronism screamed, its presence faltering under the pressure of the boomer’s power. Alec watched as the distortion began to unravel, the force of the boomer forcing the anomaly to collapse in on itself, sending it spiraling back into its original timeline.

The world around them began to shift, the fabric of reality stitching itself back together. For a moment, everything went dark, and then—

The vortex was gone.

The team stood in silence, the air around them no longer thick with distortion. Time had been restored, the Anachronism sent back to where it belonged.

But the victory felt hollow. Their bodies were battered, their spirits bruised, but they had done it. They had saved time. They had saved each other.

Alec’s voice broke the silence. “We did it.”

Lina let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “We actually did it.”

Ulbert wiped his brow, the weight of their mission lifting from his shoulders. “For now, at least.”

Snow checked her device, ensuring the timeline was stable. “It’s over. The anomaly is gone. But the cost…”

“We’ll rebuild,” Alec said, his voice calm but firm. “We’ll rebuild everything, including ourselves.”

Ken’s voice came through the comms, a faint but clear note of relief in his tone. “You did it. You fixed it. You stopped the Anachronism.”

Alec let out a long breath. “Yeah. We did. But this isn’t over yet, Ken. There’s still a lot we need to figure out.”

“We’ll face it together,” Ken said, the weight of his words not lost on Alec. “But for now, rest. You’ve earned it.”

Alec looked around at his team, each of them still standing, despite everything. They had weathered the storm together. Their trust was far from perfect, but it was there. And that was enough.

As they began to walk back, their steps steady and synchronized, Alec allowed himself a moment of hope.

The future wasn’t written yet. But they had a chance to shape it now.