Years passed in the Upside Down, though time itself seemed distorted in the twisted, nightmarish realm. Acnologia Gaunt had long since mastered its horrors, bending its laws to his will, becoming something far beyond mortal comprehension. The creatures that once stalked him in the shadows now bowed in his presence, their hunger suppressed by a force they did not understand but instinctively obeyed.
The boy who had once been human had become something else entirely.
He stood atop a jagged precipice of rock and decay, gazing into the storm of swirling darkness above. The sky here was a sickly shade of red, pulsing with unseen energy, and the very air vibrated with an eerie hum. He had felt it coming, long before it appeared—the presence that had been watching him all these years. The entity that lurked at the very heart of this world.
The Mind Flayer.
It did not arrive with noise or fury. It did not descend in a grand spectacle of terror. It simply... was.
A vast shadow, shifting and writhing, stretching beyond comprehension, drifting closer without ever truly moving. It did not speak, not in any language that mortals could comprehend, but Acnologia did not need words to understand. The weight of its thoughts pressed against his mind, an overwhelming force that might have shattered a lesser being.
But he was not lesser. Not anymore.
"You have watched me for years," Acnologia said, his voice calm, measured, unwavering. "Why do you finally reveal yourself now?"
The answer came not as words, but as a flood of images, sensations, and knowledge. It was an invitation, a revelation of purpose. The Upside Down was not merely a prison—it was a doorway. A place between places. And beyond it, the world that had abandoned him still waited, still thrived, unaware of the horrors it had sealed away.
Acnologia smiled.
"You wish to return," he mused, his eyes gleaming in the unnatural glow of the sky. "And you wish for me to come with you."
Again, the answer was not spoken, but it was undeniable.
He could have stayed. He had made this world his own, mastered its dangers, bent it to his will. But why limit himself to one realm when there was an entire multiverse waiting to be claimed?
The decision was not difficult.
He stepped forward, reaching out. Tendrils of dark energy coiled around his fingers, not in aggression, but in something almost akin to reverence. The Mind Flayer's essence pulsed through him, a connection forged in the depths of shadows. Together, they would leave this place. Together, they would walk the paths of reality itself.
Acnologia turned away from the swirling sky and descended into the ruins of the Upside Down. He had not merely survived here—he had evolved. Over the years, he had encountered strange, feral beasts lurking in the shadows, creatures unlike anything in the world he had left behind. He did not flee from them; he faced them head-on.
With each battle, he refined his power. The wandless magic inherited from his father flowed through him effortlessly. He conjured illusions so vivid they drove his enemies mad. He multiplied himself with duplication, overwhelming even the fiercest opponents. When necessary, he vanished from sight with invisibility, reappearing only to strike. His mastery of phantasmagoria allowed him to weave terrifying visions into reality, bending the minds of his foes to his will.
From his mother's side, his gifts were even more profound. With a flick of his wrist, he cast adversaries into the air with telekinesis or pinned them to the ground with binding spells. He could levitate at will, hovering above the ruined landscape as an untouchable specter. Through Biokinesis, he could manipulate his own body, healing wounds or strengthening his form beyond human limitations.
One by one, the beasts fell. And with each victory, he grew stronger.
The sky above them cracked, splintering like fragile glass, and a portal tore open, its edges flickering with chaotic energy. Through it, the other world beckoned.
Acnologia took his first step towards destiny, and the darkness followed him.