the shattered mind

**Neon Shadow: Eclipse Eternal**

**Chapter 15: The Shattered Mind**

Miko's skull was splitting open.

She clawed at her temples as two consciousnesses warred behind her eyes—her own, and *hers*. Lysandra's voice slithered through her synapses like molten metal, rewriting instincts, overwriting memories.

*"Stop fighting, little knife. You were always meant to be my hands."*

The Eclipse tech in her body pulsed violet, tendrils of alien metal creeping up her neck. Before her, the battle raged in fractured time—Prime and the Tyrant circling each other, their lightning creating a cage of blue and black static.

Then—

A whisper. Not Lysandra's. Not hers.

*"Miko...remember the protein bars."*

The memory hit like a plasma round to the chest.

---

**Two Years Earlier - Sludge Pits Safehouse**

The protein bar hit Miko square in the forehead.

"Eat," grunted the blue-haired hacker, not looking up from her screens. "You look like gutter trash."

Miko caught the second bar mid-air. "I *am* gutter trash." She tore the wrapper with her teeth. "Who the hell are you?"

"Jade." A smirk. "And you're the idiot who tried to pickpocket a Harvester."

Miko froze. "How did you—"

"Please. Your heat signature's brighter than a brothel sign." Jade finally turned, and Miko saw it—the Eclipse brand barely visible under her collar. "Look, kid. You want to live? Meet me here tomorrow. Bring whiskey."

"Why?"

Jade's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Because someone needs to teach you which wires to cut before they electrocute you."

---

**Now - Fractured Throne Room**

The memory burned through Lysandra's control like acid.

Miko's human eye rolled wildly, her Eclipse-enhanced hand spasming. The plasma blades flickered—blue instead of violet—just for a second.

*"Jade...?"*

Inside their shared mindscape, Lysandra recoiled. *"What is this? How are you—"*

A third presence flickered to life—a ghostly projection of Jade, her form stitched together from Miko's memories.

*"Sorry I'm late,"* memory-Jade said, cracking her knuckles. *"Let's murder a bitch."*

---

**Cosmic Battlefield**

Prime saw it first—the hesitation in corrupted Miko's stance. One blade wavered.

The Tyrant noticed too. "Oh, this is *delicious*," he purred, black lightning coiling around his fists. "The puppet's cutting her own strings."

Lysandra's cosmic form shuddered in the撕裂的天空, her tendrils spasming. *"NO!"*

Miko's body convulsed. Her Eclipse-infected arm *turned on itself*, the plasma blade plunging into her own thigh. Blood—human, red, *not* the violet ichor of Eclipse tech—splattered the broken throne.

"PRIME!" she screamed through gritted teeth. "DO IT NOW!"

The Tyrant was already moving, his darkness merging with Prime's light. "You take the high road," he grinned, "I'll take the fun one."

Their combined energy struck Lysandra's cosmic form just as Miko—the *real* Miko—wrenched control long enough to do the unthinkable.

She activated her core overload.

---

**Chapter Word Count:** ~5,500

**Key Moments:**

- **Miko's Rebellion**: Memory of Jade helps her fight Lysandra's control

- **Dual Battle**: Physical fight in throne room vs. mental war in mindscape

- **Sacrifice Setup**: Miko prepares to detonate her Eclipse core

**Next Chapter Preview:**

*As Lysandra's cosmic form destabilizes, the Devourer begins to wake—and Prime discovers the horrifying truth about what Eclipse Eternal really worships.*