Chapter 8 – “Whispers Beneath the Bones”

Chapter 8 – “Whispers Beneath the Bones”

Arc II: Universe D-099X – The Dinoverse

The jungle swallowed light.

Down below, under roots twisted like veins and stone older than memory, the three stood at the entrance of Darkeran’s Den—a vast subterranean cavern carved into the ribcage of a fossilized beast that once ruled this world.

Bioluminescent fungi glowed on the walls. Fossils whispered from the stones. The air smelled of smoke, blood, and moss.

Darkeran—muscle-bound, shirtless, still twitching from primal instincts—lit a flame with a snap of his fingers. Not ki. Just flint and rage.

“Welcome to my mind,” he muttered.

“Feels like a graveyard,” said Red, glancing at the jagged skulls arranged in a semi-circle altar. “Yours?”

“No. My enemies.”

Main Yuvraj—Blackstorm—said nothing. His eyes scanned every inch. Noted every pattern. Measured every breath.

---

The First Conversation

The three sat.

Not like comrades. Like wolves forced into the same cave by a storm.

“So,” Red said, voice too casual, “let’s cut to it. Why the hell did you attack us?”

Darkeran’s glare could melt iron. “You smelled wrong. Not of this world. Your scent brings storms.”

Blackstorm leaned forward. “You’ve seen them, haven’t you? Rifts. Flashes. Things that shouldn't exist.”

Darkeran didn't answer—but the twitch in his jaw said yes.

“There’s something bleeding through the edges of reality,” Blackstorm continued. “You’ve felt it. You know.”

“...I hear screams in the rain. I wake up with ash in my lungs. And I see myself die—again and again.”

Darkeran's voice cracked like earth.

“That’s why we’re here,” said Red. “To figure out why all of us—variants—are being hunted by something even we don’t understand.”

---

Phantom Clues

Blackstorm activated a hologram.

It flickered—a fractured map. D-099X showed temporal rips in its northern hemisphere. One was pulsing. Near the equator.

“Something’s coming,” Blackstorm said. “Something strong enough to twist timelines. Something even we haven’t faced.”

“And you want me to join your crusade?” Darkeran said, voice almost mocking.

“No,” Blackstorm stood. “I want you to survive it. That’s harder.”

Darkeran stared at him. Then nodded.

---

New Orders, New Names

They walked back into the temple’s side chamber—a war room of bone and steel.

Blackstorm passed each a small device.

“This links us across timelines. Beyond this jungle. Wherever the rift opens next.”

Darkeran clipped his to his belt. “Still don’t trust metal bugs.”

Red smirked. “Call me if you want to punch something. Or need a therapy session.”

Blackstorm turned to them both.

“We’re not a team. Not yet. But we’re the only ones who know what’s coming. So until we do...”

He clicked a final button.

The hologram zoomed in on a single name.

“NEXUS CORE—ACTIVE SIGNAL. LOCATION: UNKNOWN.”

Red blinked. “That’s not good.”

Darkeran’s knuckles cracked.

Blackstorm just smiled.

“Next stop: The Mechanical Hell.”

—

End of Chapter 8