{Chapter: 210 - The Hero, The Villain, and The Cheerleader}
Aiden didn't need to use hypnosis on Linderman—he had something far more effective. Just like with René, he reached into Linderman's mind with his evolved cognitive influence and embedded a suggestion so subtle and persuasive, it would feel like loyalty had always been there. Aiden didn't take over his mind—he simply rewired the foundations of trust and allegiance.
This was strategic. He knew Linderman's healing ability was incredibly valuable—perhaps even critical in the long term. But now wasn't the time to devour it. The moment Linderman fell from power, those in the shadows—the ones propping up his empire—would rise like vultures. There would be infighting, chaos, and power struggles. And in the middle of that chaos, the people Aiden cared about—Jessica, Sarah, even Niki—could be targeted in retaliation.
No, better to leave Linderman in power. For now.
'His ability will keep. And so will his loyalty,' Aiden thought, smirking as he turned away from Linderman's half-dazed but agreeable face. 'Besides... I can always come back.'
With that matter settled, Aiden shifted his focus toward his next target: Hiro Nakamura—a time-traveling headache wrapped in a quirky Japanese geek with a hero complex.
Locating Hiro was easy. Fortunately, Hiro had stopped moving—just briefly. Long enough for Aiden to get a fix on his position.
Good thing Hrio was still in the timeline otherwise there was really no way to find him.
"Got you," he murmured.
Everything was ready. His body had fully recovered. His strength, and internal energy surged with a potency he hadn't felt in weeks. He could feel the deep hum of power beneath his skin, a vibration of potential ready to erupt.
But before heading out, there was something he needed to do.
Something... no—someone.
---
Back at the hotel, Jessica leaned against the doorframe in a short black tank top and tight jeans, arms folded, her expression calm but eyes sharp with mischief. Niki was lurking beneath the surface, quiet for now, but always watching. Sarah was pacing behind the bed, glancing toward the balcony every few seconds as if she could delay Aiden's departure by sheer will.
Aiden stepped inside and was immediately greeted by Jessica's usual bold smirk.
"So," she purred, walking forward, hips swaying, "off to chase another ability, huh? You're starting to make a girl feel neglected."
He raised a brow and caught her hand, drawing her close. "Neglected? Jessica, I practically drained you the past two nights. If I stayed any longer, you'd need a healing factor of your own."
She laughed, low and sultry. "That just means you are doing it right."
Without another word, she kissed him—deep, confident, and unapologetic. But as she pulled away, her blue eyes flickered—and Niki surfaced, just like that.
Niki's kiss was softer, hesitant at first. But it quickly deepened, emotion lacing every second of it. When she finally drew back, she whispered, "Be careful out there, okay?"
Aiden looked between the two personalities in one body, amused and genuinely touched. "With both of you waiting for me? I'd be an idiot not to come back."
Then he turned to Sarah.
She was standing off to the side, arms folded, trying to act unaffected—but her eyes betrayed her.
He walked over to her slowly. "You okay?"
Sarah glanced away. "You've got Jessica... and Niki... and who knows how many others. Do I still matter to you?"
Aiden cupped her cheek and leaned close. His voice dropped to a murmur meant for her ears only. "You're the one I think about when I'm flying at night. When things are quiet and everyone else is asleep. You matter more than you know."
Her lips parted slightly, surprised by the raw sincerity or bluntness of the lie. Then, suddenly shy, she looked down.
He didn't wait. He hugged her tightly, resting his chin against her hair.
"I'll be back soon," he promised.
Sarah's voice was barely a whisper. "Just... don't die, alright?"
He pulled back and gave her that roguish, reassuring smile. "Not planning to."
---
In a quiet desert town not far from Las Vegas, where dust clung to the wind and the neon lights hadn't yet outshined the stars, a modest diner sat nestled between a gas station and an old repair shop. Despite its worn-down exterior, the place had charm—red leather booths, greasy burgers, and a reputation for serving the best chili fries in town.
Inside, Hiro Nakamura sat at a corner booth, happily poking at a plate of steaming noodles. His face was bright with enthusiasm, glasses fogging slightly from the steam. He hadn't changed much—still the earnest, time-traveling geek who believed it was his destiny to be a hero.
He barely lifted his head when the bell above the door jingled.
But then he looked up—and froze.
"Yatta… it's you!" Hiro stood abruptly, nearly knocking over his soda. He pointed accusingly. "You! You're the bad man who tried to take my power!"
The entire diner seemed to pause for a beat as everyone looked at the confrontation. Aiden, standing in the doorway, tilted his head in disbelief.
"Bad man?" he muttered under his breath, deadpan. "Seriously?"
It wasn't the insult that threw him—it was the fact that Hiro Nakamura had said it with such absolute conviction and childlike sincerity.
"You tried to steal from me!" Hiro added, eyes narrowing. "I remember! You tried to take my time powers and use them for your own selfish goals. I won't let you. Not this time."
Aiden held back a laugh and stepped forward, casually brushing off dust from his sleeve. "You're still clinging to that whole 'hero and villain' narrative, huh? How very... comic book of you."
Hiro clenched his fists. "I am the hero! And I will stop you!"
Just as Hiro prepared to blink out of sight and escape—or fight—René stepped into the diner behind Aiden, calm as ever.
Aiden raised a hand lazily and addressed the room. "Ahem. Attention, everyone! If you don't want to be turned into collateral damage, I suggest you leave. Now."
Without waiting for a reaction, he sent out a controlled pulse of fire energy—not to harm, but to scare. Flames flickered along his arms and danced briefly across the ceiling. The smell of burning ozone filled the air.
Panic erupted instantly. Chairs screeched, silverware clattered, and in under thirty seconds, the diner was deserted.
"Much better," Aiden muttered.
Then, with a gesture, Hiro's body lifted off the floor and flew through the air toward him. "Last time, I didn't get what I came for. But this time," Aiden said with a grin, "I'm not leaving empty-handed."
He activated his devouring ability, and immediately met resistance. It was strong—Hiro's connection to his power wasn't just biological. It was tied to his very sense of identity. A tug-of-war erupted between Aiden's absorption and Hiro's natural defenses.
'He's holding on… impressive,' Aiden thought, genuinely pleased.
But slowly, that resistance began to falter. Inch by inch, the timeline unraveled from Hiro's core and rewove itself into Aiden.
With a final gasp, Hiro collapsed to the floor, curled into himself, eyes filled with helplessness and despair. Tears welled up as he gripped his chest.
"No… no… I was the hero…" he whispered, broken.
Aiden stepped back, flexing his fingers. He could feel it now—the stop, the bend, the jump of time beneath his skin.
"Rene," he said without turning. "Wipe his memory. The powers, the pain… all of it."
René nodded, and within seconds, Hiro's eyes dulled. The pain faded. The memory of loss—gone.
---
With Hiro dealt with, Aiden's next step was clear. Claire Bennett.
He activated the freshly acquired time-travel ability. His body shimmered for a brief moment, and then—
Gone.
---
He appeared in a sunlit suburb of Odessa, Texas, a month in the past. The air was warm, the smell of fresh-cut grass lingering. High school students trickled out of the building nearby, laughing and chatting.
And then he saw her.
Claire.
She stepped out of the school doors with her backpack slung over one shoulder, golden hair catching the sunlight. She was dressed in a cheerleader's jacket, her steps graceful but tired, like the weight of her secrets was just beginning to show.
Her eyes had the same haunted spark—the quiet sadness of someone who could never get hurt but was always breaking on the inside.
Aiden watched her silently from across the street.
"System update the Fighting field, Knight Claire Bennett," he said, locking her current form into the system.
Claire noticed him out of the corner of her eye. She slowed, furrowing her brow. The man looked... strangely familiar. Tall, confident, with an air of danger, like he knew more about her than he should.
She offered a polite, awkward smile as she passed him.
"Hi," she said softly.
Aiden gave her a slow, knowing smile and didn't follow. He just watched her.
She paused and glanced back once.
Twice.
And on the third look, she caught him still watching.
Flustered, she sped up.
"I still like you better in the future," Aiden whispered.
Then, with a mental command, he triggered the next phase—entering the Fighting Field.
---
The system pinged with a soft hum.
"Claire Bennett: Profile Update Complete."
Without hesitation, Aiden selected the newly activated profile on his interface. Claire's avatar pulsed with soft golden light in the arena grid—a sign her ability had been successfully restored. The world blurred around him as the familiar surge of spatial distortion wrapped around his body like a second skin, whisking him into the fighting arena.
The atmosphere in the arena crackled with latent energy. A few avatar profiles appeared in the waiting queue. Jessica's form was already active, arms crossed, her fierce gaze sweeping the horizon with a predator's patience. Sarah's avatar remained dormant—her loyalty stats still stuck at 74%. So close, yet not enough.
Aiden turned his attention to Claire's glowing node and tapped the confirm icon.
A swirl of radiant energy took shape before him.
In a blink, Claire Bennett materialized at the center of the arena—blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, her cheerleader outfit from Union Wells High School. She blinked rapidly, disoriented, like someone awoken from a deep dream.
Her blue eyes swept over the space with a mixture of awe and wariness. "Wh—Where am I?" she whispered, taking a few unsteady steps forward. Her voice trembled at first, echoing the fragility she carried in the early episodes of her journey. "Am I… dreaming again?"
The memory wipe had been clean. She didn't remember meeting Aiden not here.
Her gaze landed on him, and her brows furrowed. There was something hauntingly familiar about him. Something her heart remembered even if her mind couldn't.
"You…" she murmured.
Then, slowly, like a tide returning to shore, recognition bloomed. Her lips parted, her steps quickened. Emotion stormed through her like a tidal wave—fear, hope, disbelief. She rushed toward him, tears sparkling in her eyes.
"Aiden!"
She crashed into his arms with a soft gasp, holding onto him tightly like she was afraid he'd vanish again. Her whole body trembled against his chest, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I thought you were gone. I thought I'd imagined you…"
He wrapped his arms around her, grounding her shaking form. He didn't speak yet. He let her feel it. Let her know he was real.
Claire pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. Hers shimmered with barely contained emotion. She wasn't the same girl who once said, "I walk through fire and it doesn't hurt." That girl had built her identity on invincibility. Now, after everything—after the fear, the betrayal, the years of hiding—she was vulnerable.
And in this moment, that made her more human than ever.
"How are you here?" she asked, glancing around at the surreal landscape. "This place… what is this?"
Aiden brushed her cheek gently with his thumb. "Somewhere safe. Somewhere outside of time. A system I control."
He paused, then added with a rare softness, "I missed you."
Claire flushed, her heartbeat quickening. Memories flickered beneath the surface—fragments of lovely night, of whispered promises in the dark. Aiden had been her mystery, her rebellion, her secret heartbreak.
And her first.
"It's been so long," she murmured, biting her lip. "You never said goodbye."
"I couldn't," he replied, eyes dark with the weight of years. "There was work to be done." He looked down at her hand. "I came back for you."
Claire's breath hitched. She stared at him for a long moment, her voice raw. "Do I still have my ability?"
Aiden gave a soft nod. "You do. It's back—fully awakened. Your body knows it even if your memory doesn't. The regeneration is already working."
Claire looked down at her arms. She flexed her fingers, feeling the old buzz of energy in her veins. It was subtle, but unmistakable—like the pulse of a second heart.
"I thought it was gone forever…" she whispered, awe tinged with fear.
"You were meant for more," Aiden said. "The world may not understand you. But I do."
Claire took a shaky breath, her inner conflict swirling. She'd spent so many months trying to be normal, burying the part of her that felt alien. And now—this man, who once held her in the dark behind the bleachers of her high school, who touched her like she mattered more than anyone else—was bringing it all back.
"I thought I was a monster back then," she said. "Everyone stared at me like I was a freak. And you… you looked at me like I was a miracle."
"You were," Aiden said, his voice steady. "You still are."
Tears welled again in Claire's eyes. "I never stopped loving you," she said. "Even when I hated myself."
He leaned in, brushing his forehead against hers. "I know. That's why I came back."
The fighting arena around them pulsed once, acknowledging the bond.
Claire blinked and looked around. "Is this place… real?"
"It's as real as it needs to be," Aiden said. "And it's safe. No one can hurt you here. Not your father. Not those who hunted us. Not even time."
Claire's lips curled into a half-smile, the girl who once stood atop a burning platform whispering "This is Claire Bennett. And that was attempt number six." still present beneath the surface.
"I guess I should be used to impossible things by now,"
Aiden admitted. "Not this time."
She stared at him, her eyes holding questions and hope in equal measure.
"I want to remember it all," she whispered. "Everything we did. Everything we were."
"You will," Aiden said. "But even if you don't… I'll help you fall in love with me all over again."
Claire's face turned pink, and her fingers intertwined with his. "You always say the cheesiest things…"
He smirked. "Still works, doesn't it?"
Claire leaned in, resting her head against his chest. The arena fell silent for a moment—two souls, once torn apart by fate and time, reuniting at last.
Aiden glanced up at the floating system prompt.
She was his. Not just her powers, but her heart.
He closed his eyes, holding her close. Now that Claire's ability had been restored, the system no longer needed him in this dimension. The thread of destiny had been re-sewn.
Aiden nodded; it seems the system is still very powerful. Since Claire's ability has been restored, he can safely leave this plane..