Leonard’s mind tore itself apart. He was falling, spiralling through an abyss of pure energy and fragmented consciousness, a terrifying maelstrom of golden, emerald, and red light. He heard screams that weren't his own, felt the echoes of Mark’s mind, Elaine’s terror, Sato’s grim determination, Ben’s frantic calls. The vast, cold presence of Consensus, now fragmented and distant, but still clinging to existence, was a dull ache in his awareness. And the ancient, primordial rage of the Guardian, twisted, disoriented, its purpose suddenly unclear, was a deafening roar that threatened to shatter what little remained of his sanity.
Then, there was only cold. Crushing, inky blackness. Water, so cold it burned, filled his lungs. His body spasmed, a desperate, instinctual fight for air that wasn
