The Time Gambler's Curse

Chapter 12: Chasing the Clock

The blinding flash faded, and Damian staggered forward, gasping as the world reformed around him. His limbs felt heavy, his head spinning from the impact of the jump. The oppressive weight of the flickering reality had gone, but in its place was something far more dangerous: urgency.

He had made it. Barely.

Damian blinked rapidly, forcing his vision to clear. The familiar chaos of the fractured timeline was gone. In its place, he stood on a bustling city street, the sun casting long, fading shadows over the pavement. There was no sign of the distorted world he had left behind. He knew this place. This moment. It was the beginning. The moment before his first jump—the one decision that had shattered time itself.

But now, the pressure was different. More suffocating. He could feel it in his bones: time was no longer bending to his will. It was slipping away.

He glanced down at the time device strapped to his wrist. The once blackened and damaged dials now glowed faintly, the copper worn thin as though barely clinging to the energy that kept it running. Damian knew what this meant. The timeline he had broken was holding on by a thread, and the clock—his only ally—was ticking its final moments. He had only one chance left to fix it.

The world around him buzzed with life—voices, cars honking, the hum of a city going about its business, completely unaware of the cataclysmic stakes riding on one man's race against time. But Damian couldn't focus on any of it. His singular goal burned brightly in his mind: stop his past self.

He had been here before. The path was etched into his memory—every step, every turn—leading to the narrow alley where he had first used the time device. Where arrogance and greed had blinded him to the destruction he would cause.

Weaving through the throngs of people, his pulse hammered with the weight of the moment. Every second that passed felt like sand slipping through an hourglass he could no longer control. There was no room for error this time. His legs carried him faster, urgency turning to desperation as he neared the alley.

Up ahead, the entrance loomed like the gateway to his personal hell. His chest tightened as memories flashed in his mind, moments of hubris and recklessness that had led him here. He had been so sure of himself back then—so foolish. And now, the cost of his arrogance was unraveling time itself.

As Damian stepped toward the alley's mouth, a familiar chill gripped him. The hum. Faint, almost imperceptible under the noise of the city, but unmistakable. The Eraser. It hadn't forgotten him. It was waiting, lurking at the edges of time, ready to strike if he faltered.

But this wasn't a moment for fear. Damian's eyes darted to the alley, scanning the shadows for the version of himself—the man who would make the decision that would break everything.

And there he was.

His past self stood at the alley's edge, the time device gleaming on his wrist. The younger Damian's face held a mixture of confidence and greed, completely unaware of the abyss that awaited him. Damian's chest seized with dread. This was the moment that had broken time, and now it was happening all over again.

With a shout that cut through the noise of the street, Damian lunged forward. "Stop!"

His past self whipped around, confusion clouding his face. "What the—?"

Damian didn't slow. There was no time for explanations, no time to reason. He crashed into his younger self, grabbing his arm with the force of desperation and wrenching the time device free.

"What the hell are you doing?" the younger Damian spat, his voice full of anger as he tried to wrestle his arm free. "I've got this under control!"

"No, you don't," Damian hissed, his grip tightening. "You have no idea what you're about to unleash."

For a moment, his past self froze, the words hanging between them. Damian could see the flicker of doubt cross the younger man's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by defiance. "What are you talking about? This is our chance—you don't understand!"

Damian's chest ached with the weight of truth. He didn't have time to explain, didn't have time to argue. The clock was ticking, and the Eraser was close. He could feel its presence looming, waiting for him to falter.

"I'm you," Damian growled, his voice edged with raw urgency. "From the future. And I'm telling you, if you make this jump, you will destroy everything."

The younger Damian blinked, stepping back, confusion etched on his face. But defiance still flared in his eyes. "You're lying," he said, his voice trembling with disbelief. "You're just trying to stop me from winning."

"This isn't about winning," Damian snapped, his voice rising. "It's about survival. It's about time. You think you can outsmart it, but you can't."

His younger self's gaze hardened. He reached for the time device that Damian had torn from his wrist. "You don't get it," he spat, anger dripping from his voice. "You don't want me to win. But I'm not letting you stop me."

Desperation turned into raw force. Damian slammed his younger self against the wall, pinning him there with the weight of years of mistakes. "You think you can control this?" Damian's voice was low, trembling with fury. "You have no idea what's coming. You'll tear apart time itself. The Eraser will come for you. For us. There's no winning here."

For the first time, Damian saw fear in his younger self's eyes. Real fear. His past self stopped struggling, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Damian knew he had to act fast. The flicker was growing, the hum intensifying. Time was closing in.

"I've seen it," Damian whispered, his voice barely audible over the rising tension in the air. "You have to trust me. You have to let it go."

For a moment, doubt flickered across his younger self's face. But then, the hum grew louder.

Damian's blood ran cold. He didn't need to turn around to know what was happening. The Eraser was here, the timeline collapsing under its weight. They were out of time.

Without another word, Damian ripped the time device from his younger self's hand and smashed it against the brick wall. The device shattered, gears and dials exploding in a spray of broken fragments.

The world flickered violently. The air warped, the shadows deepening as reality twisted around them. Damian's heart pounded in his chest as the world itself seemed to tear apart at the seams.

And then, everything went still.

The flicker stopped. The hum faded into nothing.

Damian stood frozen, his breath catching in his throat. The city had gone quiet. The fracture was healed. His younger self stood motionless, his eyes wide in stunned silence, the remains of the time device lying at his feet.

It was over.

Damian exhaled, the weight of the moment crashing down on him. He had done it. The chase was over. Time had been restored.

But as Damian turned to leave the alley, a voice echoed in the stillness. A whisper. Cold and certain.

"You can't run from time forever."