Volume 1 – Chapter 4: Shadows Within
The night after the battle, the city lay uneasy. The fires in the industrial district were extinguished, but the air still carried the acrid scent of smoke and fear. Life-Tech Tower stood tall above it all, but its halls were heavy with tension.
Bill sat in the command chamber, emerald eyes locked on the holographic map of Novaria. The damage zones pulsed red, scattered like scars across the city grid.
Bill:"…Too clean. Too targeted. Hogan doesn't want destruction—he wants doubt. Fear. He wants the people questioning us."
Aria leaned against the console, her amber eyes sharp but tired. "And it's working. The feeds are flooded with rumors. People saying the Hyperforce caused the damage, that our tech can't be trusted."
Tim paced like a caged beast, his fists clenched. His blue hair glistened under the holo-light, eyes flashing with restless fire. "Then we smash his lies with results. Next time his toys show up, we make it so clear who the enemy is, no one can twist it."
Bill gave him a faint smirk. "You mean you smash them, while Aria and I do the real work?"
Tim shot back with a grin. "At least I make it look good."
Aria sighed, but a ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. "You two are impossible."
Later that night, the trio sparred in the Hyperforce's training dome. The air was filled with the hum of energy shields and the clang of practice blades.
Tim fought with reckless ferocity, driving Bill back in a storm of blows.
Bill: (dodging, calm but sharp) "You're pushing too hard, Tim."Tim: (snarling) "Not hard enough!"
Aria stepped in, intercepting a strike with her gauntlets. "Tim, what's wrong with you? You're not usually this reckless."
Tim froze, chest heaving. For just a flicker, his gazelle-like eyes dimmed—shadowed, as if something unseen tugged at him.
Tim: (forcing a grin) "…Guess I just don't like losing."
Bill watched him carefully, emerald eyes narrowing, but said nothing.
That night, Tim stood alone on the Life-Tech rooftop, gazing out at the city lights. His fists clenched, his breath ragged.
A voice slithered into his mind, cold and cruel."You fight hard, Tillian Timothy… but why do you fight? For him? For the one who takes the glory? For the one who took the girl?"
Tim staggered, clutching his head. "Get out of my mind… I'm nothing like you!"
The whisper laughed, replaying images in his head—Aria's warm smile at Bill, Bill standing in front of the people, hailed as a savior.
"Not yours. Never yours. Everything you win—he takes. Even her heart. You bleed, and he reaps."
Tim: (shouting into the night) "Shut up!"
His scream was swallowed by the wind.
Meanwhile, Hogan sat in his opulent office, watching city-wide feeds. His broad figure was cloaked in shadow, his cold eyes glinting as he replayed Hyperforce's battle against his mech.
Hogan:"The people see what I want them to see. Bill Hardstone, their so-called savior, is nothing but a danger waiting to happen."
He poured himself a glass of brandy, his lips curling into a sneer. "And when he falls, I'll be there to lead. Life-Tech will burn, and so will every fool who follows it."
Unbeknownst to Hogan, faint lines of corrupted data flickered across his screen. The same whisper that haunted Tim lingered here too, feeding both hatred and ambition.
The next morning, the three shared breakfast in Life-Tech's private lounge.
Aria teased Tim lightly, trying to cut the tension. "Don't sulk, Tim. Bill's ego doesn't need your brooding to grow bigger."
Bill chuckled, emerald eyes warm. "She's right, you know."
For a moment, Tim laughed with them. For a moment, he felt normal again. But deep inside, the shadow waited, whispering, patient.