The gateways opened at exactly 11:47 PM—the same cursed time that had haunted them since Tides. Josh felt it the moment it happened, a ripping sensation in his dimensional senses like reality itself was being torn apart.
Times Square erupted with blue light as a massive portal materialized in the air above the intersection. Not the weak points they'd fought before. This was stable, permanent, a doorway between dimensions that pulsed with terrible power.
"Here they come!" Kenji shouted, flames already blazing around his hands.
The first wave of Council Shard-users emerged from the gateway. Dozens of them, each wielding different elements and abilities. Ice, fire, lightning, shadow, light—a kaleidoscope of dimensional power descending on New York like a swarm of predators.
"All units, engage!" The tactical commander's voice came through the radio. "DDI forces, weapons free!"
The battle began in chaos. Flame units fired at the invading Shard-users, but many of them simply absorbed or deflected the attacks. Josh saw one fire-user swallow flames directly, laughing as the heat made him stronger. Another—a woman wielding shadow—dissolved into darkness and reappeared behind tactical positions, striking from unexpected angles.
"They're too spread out!" Kyla called from her position. "We can't cover all the approach vectors!"
Josh made a split-second decision. He launched himself into the air using ice platforms, rising above the battlefield to get a better view. From this height, he could see the entire conflict—dozens of Council members pushing through defensive lines, DDI forces barely holding their ground, civilians still evacuating in the distance.
And more Shard-users were still coming through the gateway.
"Kenji!" Josh called down. "Create a firewall on the western approach! Channel them toward the center where we can focus fire!"
Kenji nodded and extended his hands. A wall of flame erupted from the ground, thirty feet high and blazing hot enough that even the Council members hesitated before it. The enemy forces began redirecting, exactly as Josh had hoped.
"Stevens, get everyone behind the firewall! Use it as a choke point!"
But then Josh saw something that made his blood run cold. A figure emerged from the gateway that was different from the others. Massive, at least ten feet tall, made of what looked like pure crystal. Its body refracted light in impossible ways, creating rainbow patterns across the buildings.
And its dimensional energy signature was enormous. Stronger than Yuki. Stronger than Ezra. Maybe even stronger than Azazel.
"We've got a big one!" Josh warned through the radio. "Everyone fall back to secondary positions!"
The crystal being surveyed the battlefield with alien intelligence. When it spoke, its voice resonated like struck glass. "The dual-natured one. The Council wishes to speak with you. Surrender, and the destruction stops."
"Not a chance!" Josh created ice spears and launched them at the crystal being. They shattered on impact, doing no damage.
"Foolish." The being raised one massive hand, and the air around Josh turned solid. Not ice—crystallized atmosphere, trapping him in place mid-air.
Josh struggled but couldn't move. He watched helplessly as the crystal being advanced on the ground forces, each step cracking the pavement. It reached toward the defensive line—
A massive spike of metal erupted from the ground, striking the crystal being's leg. It stumbled, surprised, and Josh felt the crystallized air around him shatter.
Chen Wei had arrived from London.
"Sorry I'm late," the metal manipulator said through Josh's earpiece, his English heavily accented. "London gateway closed faster than expected. Brought Min-Ji with me."
The teenage earth manipulator was already in action, causing the ground beneath the crystal being to sink, destabilizing its footing. Together, Chen and Min-Ji worked in tandem—metal and stone combining to create traps and barriers.
Josh freed himself and dove back into the fight. His ice and fire worked together, creating devastating combinations. He'd freeze multiple enemies with one hand while burning others with the other, the dual nature that the Council had called an aberration becoming his greatest strength.
"Josh!" Kyla's voice was urgent. "Rooftop, three o'clock! Sniper!"
Josh turned to see a Shard-user with enhanced vision aiming some kind of energy weapon at him. He created an ice barrier just as the shot fired. The projectile—pure concentrated dimensional energy—shattered his barrier but lost enough power that Josh could dodge.
Then Kenji was there, throwing a fireball that engulfed the sniper. The enemy user fell from the roof, unconscious or dead—Josh didn't have time to check.
The battle raged for what felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes. More Council members kept coming through the gateway, but Josh's team was holding. Barely.
Then Josh's earpiece crackled with urgent transmissions from the other gateway locations:
"Paris is being overrun! We need backup now!"
"Mumbai gateway just doubled in size! We're seeing fifty, sixty new contacts!"
"London team is down to half strength! Where's our support?"
They were losing. All seven cities, simultaneously. The Council had planned this perfectly—hit everywhere at once, spread the defenders too thin, overwhelm through sheer numbers.
Josh made another decision he knew he'd regret. He switched to a secure channel. "Dr. Walsh, I need you to send a message to Azazel. Tell him we accept his help. Tell him—"
"No need," a familiar cold voice said.
Azazel materialized on a nearby rooftop, not in his massive King form but in his more human-sized combat form. And he wasn't alone. Behind him stood at least forty ice creatures, but these were different—more organized, more disciplined. An army, not a horde.
"I told you that you'd need me," Azazel said. "Now, shall we stop this invasion, Joshua? Together?"
The crystal being noticed Azazel and laughed, that glass-striking sound. "The Rogue King. The Council wondered if you'd appear. Your head will make an excellent trophy."
"Many have tried to claim it," Azazel replied calmly. "All have failed."
He gestured, and his ice army charged the Council forces. But these weren't mindless creatures—they fought with strategy, working together, covering each other's weaknesses. Azazel had trained them well.
The battlefield shifted. With Azazel's forces added to the mix, Josh's team finally had breathing room. The Council members found themselves fighting on two fronts—the DDI tactical teams and the ice army both pressing them back.
Josh and Azazel met in the middle of Times Square, surrounded by chaos. They didn't speak, just nodded once. An acknowledgment. A temporary truce.
Then they fought side by side.
It was surreal watching Azazel work up close. Every movement was precise, efficient. No wasted energy, no unnecessary flourishes. Just pure combat effectiveness honed over centuries. He'd create ice barriers to protect Josh, then strike at enemies trying to flank them. In return, Josh would use his fire to counter the fire-wielders that Azazel struggled against.
They were devastating together.
The crystal being noticed this and decided they were the priority target. It charged directly at them, ignoring all other combatants. Its massive fists came down like hammers.
Josh rolled left, Azazel right. They came up attacking from two angles—Josh's fire and ice, Azazel's pure frost. The crystal being's body began to crack under the temperature stress.
"Its core!" Azazel shouted. "In its chest! Target the core!"
Josh saw it now—a bright point of light within the crystal body, pulsing with concentrated dimensional energy. He gathered all his power, creating a fireball bigger than any he'd made before. Not car-sized like in Tokyo. Bigger. Bus-sized.
"FIRE MAGIC: SECOND FORM!" The words came instinctively again, knowledge he didn't know he had.
The fireball launched with incredible speed, trailing flames that scorched the air. It struck the crystal being's chest dead center, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Then the being exploded. Not violently, but like it was unraveling—crystal shards dispersing into dimensional energy that dissipated into nothing.
The Council forces saw their champion fall and hesitated. That moment of hesitation was all Josh's team needed. They pressed the advantage, driving the enemy back toward the gateway.
"Close the portal!" Josh ordered. "Dr. Walsh, now!"
"Working on it!" Walsh's voice was strained. "The gateway is stable—it'll take at least ten minutes to generate enough counter-resonance to collapse it!"
"We don't have ten minutes!" More Council members were still coming through, and Josh's team was exhausted.
That's when he felt it—seven other presences activating simultaneously. His recruits, in the other six cities, all tapping into their powers at once. The dimensional energy signatures were coordinated, synchronized.
And they were being directed toward the gateways.
"They're doing it!" Dr. Walsh said in amazement. "The recruits are working together! They're using their combined dimensional energy to destabilize all seven gateways at once!"
Josh felt the pull—his power being drawn toward the gateway, but not forcefully. It was like adding his energy to a collective pool. Sarah Li's lightning, Duc's water, Rosa's sound, Paulo's phasing abilities, Chen Wei's metal, Min-Ji's earth, and Kenji's fire—all of them combining through their Shard connection.
Eight Shard-users, working as one, creating something greater than the sum of their parts.
The gateway began to flicker. The Council members noticed and rushed to stop it, but Azazel's forces intercepted them. The King of the Frozen Realm stood at the gateway's edge, personally holding back anyone trying to stabilize it.
"Close it!" Azazel commanded. "Send them back!"
The gateway collapsed with a sound like reality sighing in relief. The Council members who'd already come through were cut off from reinforcements. Without support, they began retreating, diving through smaller rifts they created themselves, escaping back to wherever the Council was based.
In minutes, Times Square was clear of enemies. The battle was over.
Reports came in from the other cities—all seven gateways closed simultaneously. The invasion had been stopped.
They'd won.
Josh collapsed to his knees, completely drained. Using that much power, coordinating with seven other Shard-users across the globe, it had taken everything he had.
Kyla was there immediately, helping him stay upright. "You did it. You actually did it."
"We did it," Josh corrected. "All of us."
Azazel approached, his ice army forming up behind him. "Impressive. The Council will think twice before attempting this again. At least for a while."
"Thank you," Josh said, the words tasting strange. "For helping. For keeping your word."
"I protect what is mine to conquer. The Council has no claim to this world." Azazel looked around at the destruction. "But Joshua, understand something—this was a probing attack. A test of your defenses. The real invasion will be far worse."
"Then we'll be ready for it."
"Will you?" Azazel's eyes glowed brighter. "The Prime Shard is real. The Council seeks it even now. When they find it, this victory will mean nothing. They'll control all dimensional power, including yours. Including mine."
"Then we find it first," Josh said stubbornly.
"Perhaps." Azazel began to fade, his army following. "But finding it and controlling it are different things. Be careful, Joshua Reeves. The path you're on leads to difficult choices. Impossible choices."
"I know."
"Do you? We shall see." Azazel smiled, cold and sad. "Until we meet again. And we will meet again."
He vanished, leaving Josh's team standing in the wreckage of Times Square.
Admiral Russo's face appeared on nearby screens that had somehow survived the battle. "Reeves. Status report."
"All gateways closed. Council forces repelled. Minimal civilian casualties thanks to the evacuation." Josh struggled to stand. "But ma'am, Azazel was right. This was just the beginning. The Council will come back stronger."
"Then we'll be stronger too. You proved today that Shard-users can work together without corruption. Can fight for something beyond power." Russo actually smiled slightly. "You did good work, all of you. Take twelve hours to rest and recover. Then we need a full debrief on this Prime Shard situation."
After the call ended, Josh's team gathered around him. Kenji, Chen Wei, Min-Ji, and the others who'd arrived from their cities. Eight Shard-users who'd chosen to fight for humanity instead of against it.
"So what now?" Kenji asked. "We won the battle but lost the war is still out there."
"Now we train," Josh said. "We get better. Stronger. We find more people like us and bring them to our side. We hunt for the Prime Shard before the Council finds it. And we prepare for the next fight."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Stevens said, appearing with medical supplies. "Also, you all look like hell. Sit down before you fall down."
As the team began tending to injuries and damage assessment, Kyla pulled Josh aside. "You worked with Azazel. Actually fought beside him."
"I know. I feel dirty about it. But Kyla, without his help—"
"I know. We would have lost. I'm not judging. Just... be careful. The more you work with him, the more he gets in your head. Makes you think he's not so bad. That's how corruption starts."
"I'll be careful. I promise." Josh pulled her close. "And I'll keep reminding myself why I'm fighting. Who I'm fighting for."
They stood together watching the sunrise over New York, the city already beginning to clean up and repair. Humanity was resilient. They'd survived this attack. They'd survive the next one.
But Josh couldn't shake Azazel's words about impossible choices. About the path he was on. About the Prime Shard and whoever controlled it controlling all dimensional power.
The war had just begun.
And somewhere out there, the Council was regrouping, planning their next move. And the Prime Shard waited, hidden, holding the power to change everything.
Josh just hoped they found it first.
Because if they didn't, everything they'd fought for would be lost.
End of Chapter 37