Within the vast infinity of time, strands that were never meant to touch begin to drift together, then snare into a tangled knot.  The first signs of this were small, subtle, as similar timelines quietly merged together, introducing slight variations upon an otherwise identical course of events.  Then, as time went on, three vastly different timelines met.  Each experienced a sudden, violent incursion as time began to tear itself asunder, rifts opening from one timeline to another.  The chaos that ensued left no chance for discovery of the cause, only reaction to the problem.  The tears between worlds continued at an ever increasing rate until…

In three timelines now gripped by confusion, there was a sudden twisting sensation, as if all of history was suddenly jolted on its axis.  The denizens of each world experienced their lives in thousands of different ways all at once, seeing thousands of different outcomes ranging from similar to wildly different.  An instant or eternity later it was over, leaving those affected with no recollection of the alternate events they had experienced, only the disquieting sensation that they may not be who they once remembered.  Then, a singular nausea set in, a moment of sickness frozen in time.  Beings once powerful enough to shake the cosmos felt their power slipping away, receding in eternity, not gone but just out of reach.  With another twisting jolt, the once-mighty found themselves in a familiar world that flickered and shifted on the horizon and at the edges of their vision.  Where were they?

More importantly, when were they?