Heroes Not Wanted

Chapter 20: Betrayal

Hal's jaw dropped as the bullet zipped past Diana, barely missing her. As if in slow motion, he followed its path as it flew over the desk and buried itself into Guardian's chest. The man gasped in sudden pain, his eyes going dim before any of the trio could even think to do anything.

Belatedly, Diana screamed in horror. Hal swung around to face the shooter, his arms lighting with flames without him even realizing it. At the same time, Brick pushed Diana behind him protectively. Nothing could have prepared them for who had shot Guardian, though.

Brain. The slow-typing, idle, persnickety secretary who always made them all wait, was now pointing a gun at them, and had murdered Art's friend. Diana was peeking over Brick's shoulder, her eyes wide, obviously frightened.

Hal took a step forward. "What the heck did you just do?" he burst out indignantly. "You just killed the leader of Haven!"

"I'm sure you're smart enough to realize that Guardian hasn't been the leader of Haven for some time," Brain answered, with a smile from his bloodless lips. "I have been controlling him ever since Eagle and Thorn went off in search of Delphi."

Diana was staring at him, her eyes wide. "You," she said, almost trancelike. "I should have realized—I should have known. It's you."

Brain smiled thinly again. "Ahh, I should have known," he said. "You recognize me, don't you? You saw the vision. Guardian and ... others ... were very interested in your story, of how you saw it before it actually happened. Very impressive, Delphi."

"Before what happened?" Hal burst out, staring at Diana. The girl's face was rapidly draining of color, and she seemed to be looking ... at Hal himself.

"I'm totally confused," Brick muttered. "What does this have to do with my sister?"

"Your sister attempted to free one of two people who knew that Guardian had changed," Brain said. "She had to be dealt with. It rather ruined my plans to have Eagle broken out of prison, but he shall be dealt with soon. I would be willing to bet that he would come to at least Silence's rescue, when she is taken to be executed. Ivy is simply ... collateral damage."

"Di, what did you see?" Hal said, trying to ignore Brain.

The girl looked over at him, her eyes wide. There was something in her expression that scared Hal. "Diana!" he said insistently.

"H-Hal, this is the man ..." Diana trailed off, her wide-eyed gaze switching to Brain again. "He ..." She choked off her words when Brain reached into his pocket and produced a remote.

Hal looked at the remote, and his eyebrows shot up. "Are you going to mute me or something?" There was genuine amusement in his voice.

"Hal, don't push him!" Diana cried. "Please!"

So ... the remote was something scary? Hal stared at her. "Di, what the heck is going on?" he cried at last in annoyance. "Why is the remote something bad?"

"He used it to make Solar explode!" Diana said. "And he's going to do the same thing to you!"

Hal looked at Brain. "That's impossible," he protested. "How could a weapon he used on Solar years ago work on me?"

Diana looked away, but it was Brain who laughed like a lunatic. "You still don't know?" he mocked him. "How can you not realize? How many people have told you that you're the most powerful super since Solar? There's a reason for that, Phoenix."