Chapter 3 — Betrayal
Raun Veyrath woke in darkness.
Cold metal restraints bound his arms and legs. Thick cables ran across the room, connected to machines that hummed quietly in the shadows.
His body felt heavy. Drained.
Above him, a row of white lights flickered on.
Voices echoed from behind reinforced glass.
"Subject is conscious."
"Energy levels stabilized."
"Begin monitoring."
Raun tried to move, but the restraints tightened instantly.
On a screen above him, a single line of text appeared:
Subject Classification: Eclipse-Level Threat.
They were studying him.
Testing him.
His blood was extracted. His energy measured. His endurance recorded like data in an experiment.
Days passed.
Or maybe weeks.
Time had no meaning underground.
Finally, Raun spoke.
His voice was calm.
"Why?"
A man behind the glass answered without hesitation.
"For humanity's safety."
The words echoed through the chamber.
Raun closed his eyes.
Above ground, news broadcasts spread across the world.
The Black Guardian had died during a heroic rescue mission.
A national tragedy.
Crowds gathered for a public funeral.
An empty coffin was buried beneath mourning flags.
Millions grieved the loss of their hero.
While far below the surface—
Raun Veyrath remained alive.
Chained.
Silent.
And slowly understanding the truth.
It was not rage that grew inside him.
It was clarity.