He selected Versus Mode. The character select screen loaded, but half the roster was glitched portraits—black silhouettes with red question marks. At the very bottom, past SSJ4 Gogeta, past Omega Shenron, was a slot labeled: .

He picked it.

But something walked in.

Leo tried to exit. The phone was unresponsive. Then the screen flickered, and the AetherSx2 interface reappeared—but now it had a new game loaded in the recent list. Not Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Not any ISO he recognized.

"You keep downloading us," the voice said. "But you never ask who's downloading you."

Leo laughed, copying the ISO to his phone and firing up AetherSx2 on his old Razer Kishi. The PS2 BIOS booted—that familiar white Sony screen, the dancing cubes. Then the Budokai Tenkaichi 3 title card appeared… but twisted. The letters bled like wet ink. The background stars weren't static; they moved .