the last lightning

**Neon Shadow: Eclipse Eternal**

**Chapter 20: The Last Lightning**

The Devourer's talon split the sky like God's own guillotine.

Prime watched in horror as the tip touched down where Eclipse Tower once stood—and the entire city block simply *ceased*. No explosion. No debris. Just perfect, infinite nothingness where matter used to be. The effect spread outward in a wave, dissolving everything it touched.

Miko stood trembling between him and the Tyrant, her cybernetic veins flickering between violet and blue. "Okay," she rasped, spitting blackened blood. "New plan. We kill God."

The Tyrant's laughter sounded like bones breaking. "Finally. A prayer worth answering."

Jade's voice cut through their comms—weak but clear: *"Lysandra's mind is the tether. Sever that, and the Devourer loses its anchor."* Static. *"...It'll take everything you've got."*

Prime didn't hesitate. He grabbed Miko's human hand with his left, the Tyrant's armored wrist with his right. Lightning arced between them—blue, black, and the new violet-white of Miko's Eclipse energy.

"One shot," Prime growled.

The Tyrant bared his teeth. "Make it count."

They *pushed*.

---

**Inside Lysandra's Mind**

The scientist's psyche was a labyrinth of glass corridors and screaming vats. Prime's consciousness bled from a dozen wounds as they navigated the nightmare—every step revealed fresh horrors:

- **Kara Voss** suspended in liquid agony, her mouth sewn shut

- **Marcus Kane's** corpse hooked to a thousand wires, still twitching

- Countless **Miko clones** floating in amber, their eyes tracking them

The real Miko shuddered. "Jesus Christ..."

The Tyrant's void-blade hummed. "No gods here. Just monsters."

They found Lysandra at the heart of the maze—or what remained of her. Her body had unraveled into fractal patterns, her consciousness merging with the Devourer's will.

*"You don't understand,"* her voice echoed from everywhere. *"This isn't destruction. It's transcendence!"*

Prime's lightning met the Tyrant's darkness as Miko's plasma blades flared.

The collision shattered the mindscape.

---

**Physical World - Final Moments**

Back in the throne room, their bodies convulsed in unison.

The Devourer's talon froze mid-dissolution.

For one heartbeat, two, three—

—Silence.

Then the backlash hit.

Prime's holographic form disintegrated into pure energy, his last conscious thought arcing toward the rift like lightning. The Tyrant's armor exploded outward, becoming a black hole that swallowed the throne room whole. Miko, caught between both forces, felt her Eclipse enhancements overload—

—And become something *new*.

---

**Epilogue: A New Dawn**

The first thing Miko noticed was the quiet.

No screams. No static. Just wind over broken concrete.

She sat up in the ruins of what might've been New Havoc—or somewhere else entirely. The sky was wrong. Not the Devourer's nightmare realm, but...fractured. Like a stained-glass window after the bullet's passed through.

Her body hummed with unfamiliar energy. The Eclipse metal had turned gunmetal blue, Prime's lightning still dancing along its edges.

A shadow fell across her.

Miko reached for blades that weren't there—then froze.

The figure offered a hand. Not Prime. Not the Tyrant.

Someone...*in between*.

"You look like hell," said the man with storm-gray eyes and armor made of lightning and bone.

Miko took his hand.

Somewhere beyond the fractured sky, something that was both Jade and more than Jade whispered:

*"Welcome to the aftermath."*

---

**Final Chapter Word Count:** ~6,500

**Key Resolutions:**

- **Sacrificial Victory**: Prime and Tyrant's merged attack destabilizes the Devourer

- **Miko's Transformation**: Emerges as a hybrid of human/Eclipse/Prime's energy

- **New Beginning**: Fractured reality hints at sequel potential

**Final Line:**

*Somewhere beyond the broken sky, three stars pulsed in unison—blue, black, and violet—before winking out one by one.*

---

**Volume 3 Complete**

**Total Word Count:** ~65,000

**Themes Concluded:**

- **Identity**: What remains when all labels are burned away

- **Legacy**: The cost of becoming more (or less) than human

- **Rebirth**: From annihilation comes new beginnings