Shadows of the Past

1MIN lay on the cold ground, blood pooling around him. Each breath came ragged, shallow, as his body began to shut down. His vision blurred, the world around him fading in and out, but his mind clung stubbornly to the past.

**Flashbacks** dragged him back to a pivotal moment that had shaped his path, a moment when everything had gone wrong.

The night was tense. Drag-on stood at the center of a delicate negotiation, flanked by members of their gang. The deal was crucial: the core in exchange for a hefty sum from the Mafia, a powerful group with deep, government affiliations. It was meant to secure their future, solidify their standing. But then, everything unraveled. The entire exchange had been derailed by a street rat, a no-name thief who had swooped in and stolen their lifeline. The core was gone, and the Mafia’s patience was nonexistent.

“You think this is a joke?” one of the Mafia’s enforcers growled, his gun already drawn. The sound of the gunshot was deafening. Drag-on collapsed to the ground, blood pooling beneath him, his eyes wide with shock.

1MIN had watched helplessly as his brother died, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. The Mafia issued their ultimatum: recover the core, or the entire gang would be eliminated. The pressure was unbearable. The gang was forced into a desperate race to retrieve what was stolen.

Days later, they found him, Karl. They dragged him back, expecting swift retribution. But Victor, always the strategist, saw something in the boy. Karl’s audacity, his cunning, his ability to outmaneuver both them and the Mafia had impressed him.

“He stays,” Victor had declared, his voice leaving no room for argument. “We can use someone like him.”

1MIN had been furious. He had wanted revenge, had needed it. Drag-on was dead because of Karl’s greed, his recklessness. But Victor’s word was law. Karl was to be one of them now, his skill redirected to serve Twilight.

As 1MIN lay dying, the bitterness of those memories washed over him. He had never forgiven Karl. Every moment since that night had been colored by his brother’s death, by the injustice of Karl’s survival and the denial of his own revenge.

Axon’s boots echoed softly as she approached, her gun trained on 1MIN. She moved with purpose, her steps steady despite the pain radiating from her wounded arm. Her eyes locked on him, burning with a cold, resolute fury.

1MIN’s lips moved, his voice weak but clear. “Victor... he’s dead because he didn’t listen... didn’t listen to me...”

His words were a confession, a bitter lamentation of the choices made, the paths not taken. He coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his body convulsing with the effort.

Axon stopped a few feet away, her finger hovering over the trigger. “You should have listened,” she said softly, her voice devoid of sympathy. “But it’s too late now.”

For a moment, there was silence. The battlefield around them had quieted, the last remnants of 1MIN’s forces either dead or fleeing. Twilight had won, but the victory felt hollow.

1MIN’s eyes met hers, filled with a mix of defiance and resignation. He gave a faint, bloodied smile. “You think... this changes anything?”

“No,” Axon replied. “But it ends with you.”

With those final words, she squeezed the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the still air, a final punctuation to a conflict steeped in pain and loss. 1MIN’s body jerked once, then stilled, his eyes glazing over as life left him.

Axon lowered her weapon, her breathing heavy. She stood over 1MIN’s body for a moment, her expression unreadable. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips, satisfaction, perhaps, in the closure, but it didn’t last. The weight of everything crashed down on her, extinguishing any sense of relief. She turned away, holstering her weapon, and headed back to her team.

The atmosphere was somber as Twilight regrouped near Panzer’s body. His lifeless form lay crumpled against the rubble, his prosthetic limbs still, his once-vibrant presence now reduced to a painful void.

Axon knelt beside him, her hand gently brushing against his cold, metal arm. Spectral stood a few feet away, his usual stoic demeanor faltering. Even he couldn’t hide the grief that gripped them all.

Karl was silent, his face pale and drawn. He stared at Panzer, the guilt gnawing at him. *I held him back... I let him die.* The words echoed in his mind, a relentless torment. He clenched his fists, a silent vow forming within him.

*Never again. Never again will I hold them back. If someone has to die, it will be me.*

They worked together in silence, preparing a makeshift grave outside the base. The earth was hard, unyielding, but they dug with a determination fueled by sorrow. When the grave was ready, they lowered Panzer’s body into the ground, each movement deliberate, reverent.

Axon spoke, her voice breaking the stillness. “Panzer... you were the strongest of us. You fought until the end. We’ll carry you with us. Always.”

They stood around the grave, heads bowed, the weight of loss settling over them. The silence was deafening, filled with unspoken words, unexpressed grief.

As they finished, Spectral’s voice broke the silence, urgent and low. “We need to move. Midnight is coming. We don’t know what they’ll do, but we need to be ready.”

The tension in the air shifted. The threat of Midnight loomed over them, a dark cloud on the horizon. Twilight exchanged glances, the gravity of their situation pressing down once more.

Karl straightened, his resolve hardening. “Then we get ready. We won’t let them catch us off guard.”