Nate's landing was far from graceful. He hit the ground with a force that knocked the air out of his lungs and rolled headfirst into what felt like a pile of warm spaghetti. Groaning, he blinked rapidly to clear the blinding afterimage of the rift.
Except it wasn't spaghetti. It was… something alive.
The pile wriggled, emitting a low, guttural chirp. Nate scrambled back, his hands sinking into the gelatinous terrain. Looking up, he realized he was surrounded by a landscape that defied all logic. The ground shimmered like liquid metal, the sky split into swirling ribbons of orange and teal, and the "trees" were crystalline structures that hummed faintly, as if alive.
And then there was the creature—a blob-like entity with too many eyes and too few limbs, each one flailing in apparent confusion.
"Okay," Nate wheezed, his heart pounding as the blob chirped at him. "Don't panic. It's just… alien spaghetti. Nothing to freak out about."
The armored woman stepped through the rift behind him, landing effortlessly as the tear sealed itself shut. She glanced at Nate, unimpressed, and extended a hand to pull him to his feet.
"Welcome to Quorath," she said dryly. "You'll want to keep moving. The atmosphere here tends to, uh… eat tourists."
Nate's jaw dropped. "Eat? Like, literally eat?"
She ignored him, already marching forward, her boots clicking on the strangely metallic ground. The blob chirped again, slapping a gooey tendril onto Nate's shoe. He yelped, shaking it off and hurrying to catch up.
"Hey, uh… Miss Space Cop?" he called after her. "You didn't even tell me your name, and now I'm supposed to trust you in a dimension that snacks on people?"
She glanced over her shoulder, her glowing eyes narrowing. "It's Lira. And if you'd rather stay behind and chat with that sklorvian hatchling, be my guest."
Nate hesitated, glancing back at the blob, which was now gurgling ominously. "Yeah, okay. Lira it is. Lead the way."
As they navigated the bizarre terrain, Nate peppered her with questions.
"So, you're some kind of interdimensional bounty hunter?"
"No."
"Okay… interdimensional soldier?"
"Closer."
"Can you at least tell me why I'm here?"
Lira stopped abruptly, spinning to face him. "You're here because the multiverse is breaking apart, and you're connected to the collapse. We don't know how or why yet, but my job is to make sure you don't die before we figure it out."
Nate frowned. "Cool. Love being the mystery guy. So what's the plan? We find some sci-fi wizard to fix this, or—"
A deafening roar cut him off. The ground trembled, sending Nate sprawling. From the crystalline forest ahead, a massive shadow emerged—a creature unlike anything Nate could've imagined in his worst nightmares. It stood on six jagged legs, its body covered in shifting plates of light, and its head… well, it didn't seem to have one, just a mass of swirling energy where a face should be.
"Stay back," Lira barked, drawing a sleek, glowing blade from her hip.
"Yeah, no problem!" Nate yelled, scrambling behind a nearby rock.
The creature lunged, its energy pulse sending shockwaves through the ground. Lira moved with precision, dodging the blast and slicing through one of its legs. The creature roared again, stumbling but not retreating.
Nate peeked over the rock, his heart racing. "Uh, you need help, or—"
"Stay down!" she snapped, her blade humming as she deflected another attack.
But as Lira fought, Nate noticed something strange. The triangular glyph from the sphere back in his apartment was glowing faintly on his hand now. It pulsed in time with the creature's movements, almost as if…
"Oh, come on," he muttered, staring at his hand. "I'm supposed to do something, aren't I?"
The glyph flared brighter, and suddenly, Nate's surroundings shifted. For a brief moment, he wasn't in Quorath anymore. He was… everywhere. Infinite dimensions flashed before his eyes, each one more surreal than the last. His mind screamed in protest, but amidst the chaos, a voice whispered:
"You are the Catalyst."
When he snapped back to reality, the creature was looming over him. Its swirling "face" locked onto the glyph on his hand. Nate froze, unsure whether to run or pass out.
Lira shouted something, but the words didn't register. The glyph blazed with energy, and without thinking, Nate raised his hand. A surge of light shot from the symbol, striking the creature and sending it crashing to the ground.
Silence fell.
Lira approached, breathing hard, her blade still glowing. "Well," she said, eyeing him with newfound curiosity. "Looks like you're more useful than you look."
Nate stared at his hand, then at the fallen creature. "Great. I have superpowers now. This is fine. Totally fine."
But deep down, he knew this was only the beginning.